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“I want hard.” He tsked her, and she laughed. “You’re being very mean to me right now, Rutger. Let me ride you while you decide what to do with me.”

She settled herself over his groin, and he helped her slide down over his cock. Riding him, playing with her breasts at the same time, she told him all the things that she wanted him to do to her. When he flipped her to her back, she laughed. There was something so wonderful about a man that knew what he wanted.

Sliding his cock inside of her, he fucked her slowly and explored her body with his hands. She loved it when he did that; it made her feel like he was touching every part of her all the time, and she was going to come soon if he kept it up. Just as she was feeling like her climax was coming, he slid his mouth to her throat and licked the pulse she could feel there that was pounding. As soon as he blew across her flesh, she wrapped her legs around his waist and waited for him to bite her. She didn’t have long to wait.

“Oh yes, love.” Rutger suckled at her throat for what seemed like hours when it could have only been a few minutes. Feeling something in her mouth move around, she knew it was going to be her own fangs and licked his throat when he sealed the wounds closed at her throat. As soon as he bared his throat to her, she scraped her teeth over his pulse as he’d done to her and bit down.

Nothing could have prepared her for the feelings that she had while biting him. Coming over and over again, she nearly burst into tears when he took her wrist to his mouth. When he bit down on her, she cried out and begged him for more. Sealing the wounds at his throat, she bit down on his nipple until she was sure that she could taste him. It was the best thing that she could have done, biting Rutger as he’d bitten her. She was in love with him, and when he told her he was coming, she bit down on his throat again just so he’d have a better climax. Of course that made her have one as well, and they were satisfied lying there until the sun was set.

Chapter 9

Kenneth watched the young girl wandering the streets. He didn’t engage with her; there was no point in making himself a victim too, but he did watch her. When she turned at the next street, Kenneth moved down the next alley so that she’d not see him. When she popped out of the street from around the houses, he continued on his way to keeping her safe. He knew that she couldn’t have been no more than about eight or nine. Someone would surely hurt her if she were to run across the wrong person. Kenneth pulled shadows around himself when she turned to look at him.

“I know you’re there. What do you want?” He didn’t move and didn’t pull the shadows away until she turned to move again. “I’ve nowhere to go, and I don’t want to be killed by you because I’m a little kid. Go away and leave me alone.”

He didn’t, of course. That would be stupid on his part if he were to do that. So he continued down the street until they came to a crossroads. She sat down at the stop sign and looked around. He moved to the street before the one she was at and waited to see what she was going to do. He didn’t have to wait long before she started talking again. But not to him this time; she was talking to the doll that she’d pulled from her pocket.

“You and I are going to be murdered in our sleep if we can’t find a place to rest. It’s been three days now, and I’m hungry too.” He looked around to see if anyone was coming upon her when she looked up suddenly. “Momma said she’d be back, but we both know that she’s not gonna. Leaving us at home was something that she wanted to do since our daddy ran off. She was just looking for a way to get rid of us.”

He’d had enough. When she lay down on the street corner, he decided to put her into a deeper sleep and take her and her doll to his house to get a bath and some good food in her body. He might regret it, but he didn’t think he would if something were to happen to her while she was out and about alone. Going to her when he heard her soft snores, he told her to sleep, and he picked her up.

He’d been wrong about her age. She might well have been ten or twelve, but not a little girl like he’d thought. Now he was more nervous about her being out on her own and took the two of them to his house. he had staff there that would know what to do, and he’d not have a child in his house for the perverted people to think anything other than he’d been trying to help her out. He didn’t do this sort of thing all the time, but enough that his staff was ready for him when he brought another stray home.

He left her in the hands of his cook while he went to find out what he could about her momma and daddy. He had their scent now, and it would only be a matter of time before he figured out why they left a kid out on her own.

The little girl was a wolf, so he reached out to the pack leader and his friend, Conri. He told him what he’d done and that the girl was having a meal at his house. He also told him what the little girl had said, knowing that if anyone could get to the bottom of this, it would be him. He told him that he had only three little girls about that age and he’d look into them now. Almost as soon as he said he was going to do it, he got back with him.

“I found her parents. They’re both dead. Trying to rob a bank in another town got them killed. They were working up until a few weeks ago, and now they’re wanting money. I guess the bank wanted it more than they did. Both of them were killed just this morning. I’ll come and get the child from you.” He said that she was in need of a good bath and some food. “You feeding her now will get the worst out of the way. You said she was wandering the streets around town? I wonder why she didn’t come to me. I would have helped her out a bit.”

“I don’t know. I’ve not spoken to her all that much. Just that she won’t tell me her name. But that’s nothing unusual. The kids I find usually are loyal to their parents for some reason or another.” Congi said he didn’t understand that either. That they could be the worst parents and the kids wouldn’t say a word about them. “Loyalty or something like that, you think? Or just plain fear?”

“Of me, you think?” Conri laughed a little. I try to be a good leader, but there are times when I want to just throw up my hands and give up. Especially since I’ve found my mate and my brothers have too. It’s like I don’t want to have time for them anymore.”

“That’s sad. You’re a great leader, and they’d be nowhere without you. There’d be no jobs for them, that’s for sure.” He agreed with him, but he could tell that he was upset with the entire pack. “Maybe you need to take a vacation. I know that Brew and his mate did recently, and they were so much more relaxed when they returned.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea. We could get away for a few days and feel better when we return. I’ve been wanting to take her to New York for some dinner and a show. This way we can do some Christmas shopping while we’re away.” Kenneth agreed with him. “Thanks, buddy. I’m sending someone after the child now. Her name is Shelly, if she won’t tell you. However, I’d not tell her about her parents. I have no idea why; I believe she already knows, but there you have it.”

After closing the connection between the two of them, he got to work in his office. He was forever moving money around so that he’d have it at a moment’s notice. There were also things that he did so that he could leave too when needed. He’d only just returned from South Africa building homes for the people there. It was something that he did when he could, but lately it was like Conri was saying, he needed a break.

After Kenneth finished up his work, he settled down to watch a little news. He needed to stop doing that as well, as it was usually bad news and something he found he needed to take care of. Turning it off in favor of reading a good book, he sat on his couch until the sun was coming up and decided that he needed a walk in the fresh air.

On his walk, he encountered Rutger, who was going to have lunch with his mate. He was asked to join them, and they needed to go up to the little bar in town. Katie was going to meet them there, and they’d watch her eat. Kenneth couldn’t wait to find his mate; he had to believe that she was out there and have meals with her. It had become a daily thing with them, and he enjoyed how much fun it was just hanging around the two of them. He thought that of all of the men in the kiss, he enjoyed being around them the most. They were so much fun and funny that he usually felt great after leaving them. Today was going to be no different.

“We’ve been getting things sorted out for the holidays. The house is going to be decorated so well that kids will come around for miles just to see it.” He laughed with them. “When are you going to get you a new house? I know you’ve been living in that condo for decades. I think you were the first person that lived in them when they were built. I bet you own them by now.”

“I do. It’s been a good investment.” All three of them laughed. “I’ve been looking for a smaller house than you have. I think you have the biggest I’ve seen.”

“It is large, but we love it. Having it come furnished was the best part. We didn’t have to go out and buy things to fill it up. And since the kitchen is all remodeled now, we can live there for the rest of our lives and raise children if we want. It’s been fun exploring it while we’re at home.” He asked if he’d found any treasures. “Not yet. Just a lot of room for when the children come along. We’re both excited about that.”

“I bet you are. And making babies is fun too.” They laughed again, and that was when Katie said she had to get back to work. After leaving them to their wine, Rutger asked him if he was really looking forward to finding his mate. “I don’t know, to be honest. I won’t be upset if she comes around, but I’m not going to go out of my way to find her. She’s going to have to come to me, I guess.”

“That’s all right. She’ll find you.” He said that he hoped so. “She will, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t find her on your own sooner. She’s that special to you when you get to know her. I know that Brew had trouble when he first met his mate, but we’ve all learned from that. Katlynne and I have been doing all kinds of things together since we’ve met, and we’re planning a trip around the world soon. We’ll be gone for about a month or more. Just taking our time seeing what we want to see while soaking up the fun.”

“I was just telling Conri about taking some time off. He said that he’s upset with having to work all the time and wishes he could take his mate away for a while. I was thinking about doing the same thing only for about a week or so. I don’t want to be gone for months. I think I’d be bored with that as well.” Rutger said that was a fantastic time to be getting away when the kids start school back up. “Yeah, there won’t be as many of them around while you’re out on your exploring trips. It’ll be more private for the two of you too.”

“That’s what I’m talking about.” They both laughed and looked around the bar. It needed some updates as well as more lighting, but he wasn’t going to suggest that. The man seemed to be doing all right with the way things were going, and he didn’t want to have to come up with plans to know how to make it better. It was something that he did a great deal—come up with plans to make a place more business—but not today. He just wanted to enjoy himself with his friend. And Rutger seemed to have the same idea. “When are you going to have us all over to your home? I’ve been waiting on an invite, but it just seems to not come around. Have I missed it someplace?”

“No. We’ve been getting to know one another. We really should do that, though. I love our house and the pool. We could have a nice pool party. A bunch of vampires in swimsuits sounds great, doesn’t it?” Shaking his head, he told him he could do without that sight for a while now. “I thought you might say that. Katlynne loves the pool. She swims in it nightly. I join her sometimes, but mostly it’s her.”